CO129-574-12 Revenue Service- grading and promotion 11-10-1938 - 11-11-1938 — Page 6

No. 758

Sir,

to

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONG KONG.

11th October, 1938.

I have the honour to inform you that a petition,

of which I enclose a copy, has recently been addressed

2.

to the Superintendent of Imports and Exports by the European

Revenue Officers in his department on the subject of the

grading and prospects of promotion in the revenue service.

Without accepting as established all the representations

put forward in the petition I am inclined to think there

is some ground for the dissatisfaction expressed in it.

The present permanent establishment of Revenue

Officers is eighteen and there are also at present three

temporary officers whom I fear, if the present expansion

of work continues, it will be necessary to add to the

permanent establishment. The salary scale of the permanent Revenue Officers is £260 to £430 per annum by varying

increments. The only senior post open to them is that of

Senior Revenue Officer with a scale of £475 by £20 to

£575 per annum.

3. No definite prospects of promotion have been held

out to European Revenue Officers on appointment but it is

the natural expectation of any officer joining Government

Service that good service will be rewarded in due course

by advancement and I believe that the lack of adequate

prospects of advancement is likely to give rise to such

dissatisfaction as to jeopardize the efficiency, and

especially the reliability, of a department where such

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

MALCOLM MACDONALD, M.P.

&C., &C., &C.